Crimson Stars
by nightofnyx7
Summary: Dick Grayson has never been one to be taken by surprise. Yet perhaps the most unexpected opponent is the one that no man can avoid forever. The journey of the flightless bird to the skies above. Slight Nightwing/Starfire


**This could be considered a companion story to my other fic, "Just Before Dawn," but it doesn't necessarily have to be. Enjoy!**

* * *

All he could see was red.

He couldn't feel the pain; only a swelling numbness that reduced the anguish to an uncomfortable tingle

But he knew it was bad. He could see where the cuts ran deep, his own blood pooling around his tattered, discarded body.

He had seen enough blood in his life that it didn't phase him anymore. But somehow the sight of so much of his own made him dizzy.

He struggled to focus on something else as not to pass out. He squinted to see the stars above him clearly, but his vision shifted as though the world was spinning on a top. His confused perception rested on how the moonlight gleamed in the scarlet pool he lay in. It was oh, so very red.

Mar'i was going to kill him.

He was already running late when he rushed out the door half an hour earlier to attend the dress rehearsal. Why they even had dress rehearsals for weddings was beyond him. As he recalled, Kory had been a little impatient to get married after they had finally gotten engaged and didn't frivol in formalities. All she cared about was inviting _all_ of their friends and seeing how many flower arrangements she could pack into one venue.

When he had gotten to the building where the rehearsal was being held, a small trick of the light caught the corner of his eye. After some investigating, he had stumbled upon a rank of the League of Assassins, whom had at last found Damian and were apparently planning revenge.

No weapons. No grappling hooks. Fists don't do so well against sharpened swords and machine guns.

At least he had defeated them. The danger was no longer a threat. The league lay around him unconscious, out of sight and out of mind. But now Dick Grayson himself lay in a pool of his own blood as his body began to shut down, all while his daughter waited inside for his arrival to start the rehearsal.

Yep. Mar'i was going to kill him.

Dick groaned. He knew he only had minutes. There was no getting out of this one—the damage was too great. After fifty-four years of avoiding the fates, they had finally come for him. He could feel it in his very soul.

Dick tried to focus on the stars again. They were so beautiful tonight. The usual smog that normally clung to the sky had cleared for a moment to reveal a glittering sea of light. His Kory had loved the stars, and she was the brightest of them all. He could almost hear her voice on the wind…

BANG.

The doors of the venue were flung open and a throng of people flurried out. The bride-to-be spotted her father immediately and ran to him.

"Dad!" Her scream echoed across the silent streets, filling Dick's heart with pain worse than his deepest cuts. She knelt beside him and rested her father's head on her lap. How beautiful she looked tonight, the bride that illuminated the night. He felt her tears fall onto his cheeks as she sobbed.

Her fiancé stood a little farther off. "What happened?" Damian demanded. "We heard shots…" he trailed off as he recognized the attackers, and his eyes lowered back onto Dick's broken form. His mind made the connection.

"No…" Damian exploded with rage. "What were you thinking? We were right inside, why didn't you call us? We were right there!" Yet his anger dimmed as Mar'i's sobs intensified. Damian fell to his knees beside her and gazed upon the fallen hero hopelessly. He finally resigned to wrapping an arm around Mar'i and held her close. Her whole body shook with grief and shock.

Dick had not approved of their union from the very start. He felt Damian to be too old and too reckless for his Mar'i. But he knew how happy Damian made his daughter, how she lit up around him; and there was nothing more beautiful in the world than her smile.

Dick mustered all the strength he had and gripped onto Damian's arm tightly, staring him straight into the dark eyes that so resembled his father's. _Take care of her._ Dick wanted to say. _Keep her safe. Keep her close. Keep her happy. _

Damian's eyes told Dick that he had understood the message.

"I will." He stated. "I promise."

The rest of the family stood in a silent circle around them. Dick's gaze found Bruce, whose hunched form revealed his age a little too much, standing gravely off to the side. Even he knew there was nothing to be done.

Dick looked into the eyes of his daughter. There was so much that he wanted to tell her. She was his world, the one thing that kept him grounded to the world after his wife had died. He remembered the way he had tossed her into the air when she was little, chasing her around the house until they both collapsed with exhaustion and she resigned herself to a hot cup of cocoa and a story before bed. He could still hear her delighted laughter the first time she flew; her stifled sobs every time they visited her mother's grave; her soft humming as she planted flowers in Alfred's garden.

He didn't see his life flash before his eyes; He saw her's. The way she bit her lip in determination when she trained with Bruce. All those late nights he had draped a quilt over her shoulders when she had fallen asleep at her desk finishing her homework. The air-suffocating hug she had given him when she had graduated college.

The pride that had swelled within him the first time she went on patrol with him as Nightstar. The fiery temper and defiance that balanced her playful and optimistic nature. The brilliant smile she had given him when she told him she was engaged.

How could he leave her?

Everything was still, quiet. He could now feel the cold mist clinging to the air. Unfortunately, he could also feel the sharp pain ebbing back into his body.

Mar'i's eyes held his, as glittering emerald met rigid blue. Her expression held remorse, yet understanding. She wiped a bit of blood off his face.

"Dad." Her small voice broke the silence. "It's okay."

_No_.

"We'll be alright." She let out a timid smile. "You can go to Mom now."

He could see her now: Warm, glowing emerald eyes with fiery-red hair cascading down her shoulders. How he loved the color of her hair. She kneeled down beside her daughter: a figure only he could see. She stroked his cheek and smiled softly.

"_It's alright."_ Kory echoed her daughter.

He couldn't.

"No." He let out hoarsely. His sight rested on every person that now knelt at his side: His daughter, Damian, Bruce, Barbara…he couldn't leave them.

_It's alright._

"Go." Bruce's voice held remorse and reassurance. "It's okay. Don't be afraid."

His vision blurred. The outlines of his family started to fade; Kory's face became clearer.

"_Richard." _She stated simply. _"You can come home now." _

Oh, how he had missed her.

"Kory." He breathed.

He could hear Mar'i's voice fading in the distance. "Give Mom a hug for me."

He gripped onto Kory's hand as she lifted him up, her hair billowing in the air that washed his vision in its rich, warm color.

All he could see was red.

_I am coming._


End file.
